Chapter Six: Fractured Decisions
Elias stepped back. “No. I won’t merge.”
The floor pulsed beneath him. Screens lit with faces of all restrained versions: all him, all failing.
You think you are choosing freely.
Elias realized: refusing wasn’t freedom. It was data. His fear, his doubt, his persistence—it was being harvested.
Your pain, confusion, and terror are variables. Your memory is material. Your self is input.
Even if he resisted endlessly, the ship would win. Understanding him was the goal.
He swallowed, heart pounding, and realized: survival wasn’t the point. Identity was. And the system never stopped learning.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN STARS